Drama, Dance, Music, & Sport for Kisumu Youth

The New Year has come and the Manyatta Youth Resource Center (MYRC) is working hard to make 2015 our most successful year to date. I arrived back in Kisumu mid-January to a warm welcome and also warm weather.  Kisumu sits on the Equator and has been averaging temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius and above.  Despite the heat and unforgiving sun, the MYRC presses on with its programs, organizing events for football and performing arts and creating opportunities for girls and boys to have fun and explore their talents in this lakeside city. 
 
Though the Kisumu Youth Football Association’s (KYFA) football league is on a three-month break, the MYRC football team, Manyatta United, is still busy organizing girls and boys friendlies, playing in tournaments and preparing for the coming season.  The MYRC and Manyatta United were honored to welcome two guest players on a tour of East Africa, who travelled all the way from Lagos, Nigeria to come play with our adult team.  These young players are the first international visitors for a soccer club in Kisumu and their visit inspired our team and organization.  Nigeria is a country that Kenyans look to as one of the leading soccer nations in Africa.  Our visitors did not disappoint as they showed off high levels of talent on the pitch and also demonstrated their talents with inspirational speeches and exemplary character off the pitch.
 
The Manyatta United adult team recently took the Kisumu District League title and was promoted to the Provincial League level.  Our Nigerian visitors came to play with this team and are considering joining us for the entire season.  Our Provincial team is mostly made up of young players who started at the MYRC on an Under-14 aged team but have since grown to become young adults.  The MYRC’s goal has always been to build players up and keep creating opportunities as they grow.  So many teams in Kisumu are limited in the support they can provide and players are often abandoned when they reach eighteen.  The MYRC hopes to continue providing for our players and hopefully one day create a Kenyan Premiere League team from players who have come up through our youth academy. 
 
We were so proud of our players when they took the Kisumu District title after only one season. This shows that our coaches and training are having an impact and that youth are getting opportunities for building their talent.  In an additional honor, our head coach, Opiyo, was named Coach of the Decade by the KYFA management board for his impact on youth and football in Kisumu.  We are so proud to be working with such a highly regarded and honored coach. 
 
Yet the MYRC still faces the huge responsibility of funding this new Provincial team.  With your help we managed to complete the District season and also come out on top.  The Provincial League presents us with a greater challenge, as the costs of completing this season will be even higher than the District season.  Our players will have to travel further to away matches and our organization will have to pay higher fees for enrollment in the league.  These costs are a major challenge and we need your support once again to see this team succeed.  If our team finishes the season in the top two positions, we will then be promoted to the Kenya Nationwide soccer league.  This is our goal, but we have to be able to fund this season first.
 
As the MYRC soccer teams work hard, our performing artists are also busy moving forward and working hard to showcase their talents.   Our performing artist Gabiro Da Hip-hop, who recently won the Kisumu Vybez award for best social awareness song, has been busy in the MYRC recording studio, Starbell Records, recording new music by day and performing at shows by night.  Gabiro has gained quite a following in our area and he recently was the guest artist at Club Marina in Kisumu with the headlining artist being Nairobi hip-hop star Kristof.  The venue was packed with students from Maseno University and Gabiro’s performance brought down the house.  Gabiro is young and working hard.  He hopes to produce his first music video this year with help from the Manyatta Youth Resource Center.  You can help make his dream come true by supporting Equip Manyatta. 
 
The MYRC also helped sponsor a comedy event at the Kisumu Social Hall in January called Laughter Mania.  Laughter Mania hopes to create a regular comedy show in Kisumu much like the popular Kenyan show Churchill Live.  The show featured many comedians, dancers and musicians, including the MYRC’s own Gabiro Da Hip-Hop. The show was a big success for its first venture and we hope to work closely with Laughter Mania in the future to see Kisumu talent showcased at the highest level. 
 
A major challenge we face here in Kisumu is the formidable endeavor of keeping our youth in school.  It is so sad to see kids not being able to learn because they can’t come up with enough money to pay school fees and buy the necessary school supplies such as uniforms, shoes and learning material.  Kids are sometimes sent home for owing as little as $5; many face greater need of up to $200.  The MYRC has made major accomplishments in supporting education, has found sponsorships for over thirty youth, and has had four students finish secondary school thanks to the support we found.  As the MYRC deals with over 200 youth, the challenge to find help for those that most need it is daunting.  We are asking for your support so that we can keep as many of our youth in school as possible. 

Talent in sports and performing arts are enhanced when a young person has opportunities to get an education.  We would appreciate any help you can offer so our youth members finish first primary school and then secondary school.  One day we also hope to sponsor young women and men for their university education so they can become future leaders not only for MYRC, but also for Kisumu and Kenya. The cooperative experiences and education that you fund through Equip Manyatta provide a foundation for the lives of our young people and for Kenyan society as a whole.